


Walls, Physical and Otherwise

by sarcasticsra



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-20
Updated: 2012-05-20
Packaged: 2017-11-05 17:15:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/408979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcasticsra/pseuds/sarcasticsra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has walls. The trick is finding your way around them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walls, Physical and Otherwise

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Kat for the beta!

When Bruce heard the door to the lab open ( _your_ lab, Tony would correct, if Tony could read his mind, and wasn’t that a terrifying thought) he expected it would be Tony, because Tony had a habit of randomly dropping by when he wanted someone to talk at in order to figure something out, or when he wanted to see what Bruce was doing, or even just when he was bored and wanted to buzz around the lab like a bee on amphetamines.

It wasn’t Tony, as it turned out, which was almost a disappointment, because Bruce had to admit he kind of enjoyed his buzzing. It was Pepper Potts.

“Ms. Potts,” he said, mildly puzzled.

“Call me Pepper,” she said, the epitome of ease and friendliness, and wasn’t that remarkable? He still hadn’t entirely gotten used to people being used to him. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No, no—right now my experiment consists of a lot of ‘hurry up and wait.’ How can I help you?”

She smiled. “I just wanted to tell you that everything’s all right, truly. There’s not a lot that Tony does where I don’t have some idea about what he’s up to.”

“That…is not that surprising,” he admitted, tilting his head. “But what’s all right?”

“He said you were worried about what I’d think—and you have no idea what I’m talking about, and I am going to kill him.” She shook her head, smiling wryly. “I should’ve known. He talks a big game, but sometimes…”

“Um,” said Bruce. “I’m missing something here, aren’t I?”

Pepper started to answer, but that was the moment the door to the lab opened again ( _it’s **your** lab_ , a mental voice that sounded suspiciously like Tony corrected, and Bruce decided that was even more terrifying than the actual Tony being able to read his thoughts) and this time it _was_ actually Tony who entered.

“Have you seen this?” he asked without preamble, clearly already in full-on rant mode, waving his tablet around. “This…this appalling excuse for scientific journalism? This travesty of misinformation? This…this…there isn’t even a third description, it’s that terrible. There is no excuse for being this wrong, there’s simply no forgiving it.”

He came to an abrupt halt, apparently only just noticing that Pepper was also in the room.

“Okay, you’ve got that look on your face,” he said, slowly. “I did something, didn’t I, and now I’m in trouble.”

Pepper smiled very sweetly, and even though it wasn’t aimed at him, Bruce started reconsidering who might be the scariest person in the room.

“It’s not so much what you _did_ ,” she said, with an air of thoughtfulness, “as what you _didn’t_.”

Tony got a very suspicious look on his face. “What did you tell him?”

“Not much, not when I realized _someone_ was a giant chicken.”

“Take that back,” Tony said, somewhat petulantly.

“Did you or did you not chicken out?”

“I…no! There was…a thing!”

“Oh? What kind of thing?”

“Um,” said Bruce again, looking between them. “Do you two want me to let you have the lab to yourselves? I can step outside.”

“It’s _your_ lab,” Tony said automatically, not looking away from Pepper’s expression. Bruce had to admit he had no idea what he was seeing there, but he supposed that wasn’t a surprise. These two knew each other…not just well. Easily.

It was nice. He kind of envied it.

“Maybe if you further explained how true that was, he’d understand.” Pepper smirked and moved suddenly, touching Bruce’s arm and dropping a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t let him leave until he fills you in.”

That mess of inexplicability out of the way, she left without another word.

“Why do I always underestimate her capacity for being diabolical?” asked Tony, mostly to himself.

Bruce eyed him for a moment, before asking, “So what exactly is going on?” He wasn’t one to brag, but he liked to think of himself as being a fairly bright guy. He wasn’t that used to being this much in the dark.

“Pepper and I have diverging theories on how best to proceed at this junction,” he said.

“You ought to consider running for office,” said Bruce, shaking his head. “At what junction?”

“ _This_ junction,” Tony said, gesturing with his tablet between the two of them. “It’s _possible_ , not likely, of course, but maybe _possible_ …that I’ve been overthinking this.”

Bruce was about to ask, patiently, _what_ he was overthinking, but he didn’t get the chance, because that was when Tony Stark leaned in, suddenly, and kissed him.

It was a pleasant kiss, gentle and almost chaste—at least at first. His brain gave up on trying to catalogue it when Tony’s hand came up to the back of his neck and he carefully deepened it, drawing a soft gasp out of him. Tendrils of heat curled through his body, enveloping him, and for a few precious seconds Bruce let himself stop thinking and just _feel_.

That, too, was nice.

When Tony pulled away, Bruce blinked, and Tony said, “Dammit.”

“Dammit?”

“She _was_ right. She would have to be, wouldn’t she?”

“Pepper?” Bruce asked. “This is what’s ‘all right,’ I take it? You kissing me?” He shook his head, having a little trouble believing he just said that out loud. “She’s sure about that?”

“Yeah, she’s sure. Frankly, I think she’s got an ulterior motive. Never forget, she’s diabolical.” He snorted. “And she was right. Apparently you _can_ just kiss Bruce Banner.”

Bruce, despite the pleasurable lingering haze from the kiss, felt his back stiffen. “If this was just some sort of experiment…”

“No! No, no, no, Jesus, no, that’s not what I meant.” He eyed him. “Come on, Banner. We all have walls. Some are retractable, the kind that easily let people in; some are sturdy, but you can find entrance if you look closely; some are triply-reinforced with concrete and steel. Those ones require C4.” He thought for a second. “No, scratch that. T4.”

Of course, Bruce thought. Tony Stark _would_ understand the complexity surrounding emotional walls.

“Well,” he said, relaxing, “you’re right about that.”

“Obviously—I usually am. This is a troubling exception.” He smirked. “Fortunately, these moments are few and far between. Unlike for some people.” Tony punctuated the end of that sentence with a glare at his tablet.

Bruce rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop a small smile. “What were you even ranting about when you came in?”

“This hack with a keyboard calling himself a scientist,” Tony said, holding out said tablet. “Your brain will try to claw its way out of your skull to escape the truly horrifying amount of wrong.”

“You’re really making me want to read it.”

“You _have_ to read it, because this is the type of wrong that makes you want to proclaim it, loudly, everywhere and anywhere you go, so not one single person anywhere on the planet thinks for one second that it’s anything other than _just plain wrong_.”

Bruce snorted, taking the tablet. “Fine, I’ll read it.” At Tony’s grin, he smiled slightly and added, “ _Not_ right this second. Don’t make me kick you out of my lab.”

Tony only grinned more widely.


End file.
